Centre may unlock Mumbai’s salt pan land for housing

Offering hope to a city seriously starved of space, Union urban development minister Kumari Selja said, on Tuesday, that the Centre was working on measures to free up acres of salt pan land in the city for housing.

Offering hope to a city seriously starved of space, Union urban development minister Kumari Selja said, on Tuesday, that the Centre was working on measures to free up acres of salt pan land in the city for housing.

“Urbanisation leads to migration and people need to be housed. We have initiated the move considering Mumbai’s scarcity of space,” Selja said.

Mumbai has 5,000 acres of salt pan land in the eastern and western suburbs. Freeing up this land could also impact realty rates, the minister said. “When there is supply, prices are bound to fall.”

Supporting Selja’s view, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said even the Planning Commission had been apprised of this demand.

Builders have welcomed the idea. “This land is a precious resource,” said Nayan Shah, CEO, Mayfair Housing.

Environmentalists, however, say it would cause havoc. “Salt plans are excellent flood barriers and tinkering with them will only have an adverse effect,” said Rishi Agarwal, a noted environmentalist. Agarwal suggested the state conduct an environmental impact assessment study first.